Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, Inc. (THCR) (NYSE:DJT) said today it will develop a new, world class casino hotel on the Atlantic City boardwalk at the entrance to the Atlantic City Expressway. It will be the first Atlantic City casino project fully planned, conceived and developed under the direction of THCR chairman Donald J. Trump.

The project will be developed on the site of the existing World's Fair Casino Hotel and other properties controlled by Trump. The approximately 12-acre property is the largest boardwalk casino site in the city. The World's Fair will be torn down to make way for the new hotel.

According to Trump, "Clearing away the World's Fair will give us the flexibility to develop the kind of world class signature property that has made the Trump Organization the dominant developer in New York. We are going to bring the magic of Manhattan to the boardwalk."

He continued, "Trump Tower, Trump International Hotel and Tower and the now under construction Trump World Tower have re-defined the marketplace in New York. Our Manhattan properties command the highest prices in the market. We are going to bring that level of excellence to Atlantic City.

Trump, whose Atlantic City properties are the only casinos to earn the coveted Five Star Diamond designation said that the new property will incorporate "the best of everything we have ever developed before. Our existing Atlantic City casino hotels were principally designed by others or with partners. They are great properties. But they do not fully reflect a Trump signature property. 

We are going to take the best features from each and incorporate the unique style which distinguishes our New York projects from all of the others. Our new Atlantic City project will define what a casino hotel should be and set a new standard for the industry. It will be one of
the largest and most spectacular hotel casinos anywhere in the world."

THCR's existing Atlantic City properties include The Trump Marina (developed by Hilton Hotels), Trump Taj Mahal (originally planned and initial construction undertaken by Resorts International) and Trump Plaza (developed as a joint venture with Holiday Corp.).

Trump said that the first phase of the project will include closing the World's Fair sometime this fall. He anticipated that most World's Fair employees will be assimilated into other THCR Atlantic City operations.

"The removal of the World's Fair will truly signal the beginning of the next step of development in Atlantic City. It will be a fitting tribute to the millennium," Trump concluded.